December Walking Audit
Wed, Dec 09
|Location is TBD
Participants walk a route as an everyday pedestrian, noting hazards like broken sidewalks, unsafe crossings, poor lighting, high-speed traffic, and barriers for wheelchair users, & document their findings. No prior experience required; location TBD.
Time & Location
Dec 09, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Location is TBD
About the event
What is a Walking Audit?
A walk audit is a community-driven assessment of an area's walkability, safety, and accessibility. Participants walk a route as an everyday pedestrian, noting hazards like broken sidewalks, unsafe crossings, poor lighting, high-speed traffic, and barriers for wheelchair users. They document what they find, and that documentation becomes the data that drives real improvements.
Who is organizing these?
These walk audits are being coordinated by the City of Shawnee, Oklahoma. You can learn more on the City's website here: https://www.shawneeok.org/government/departments/planning/walk_audits.php
Why do walk audits matter?
Everybody in Pottawatomie County deserves streets that work for them, whether they’re biking to school, walking to work, or driving to the grocery store. Walk audits are how we figure out where the gaps are and start closing them. In April 2026, the City of Shawnee passed its landmark Safe Streets for All Action Plan, aimed at making Shawnee's streets safer for drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, and everyone in between. The reason it exists is simple and sobering. Between 2017 and 2023, Shawnee ranked among the highest per-capita fatality rates in Oklahoma. In that time frame, the city recorded more than 31 roadway deaths and between 2015 and 2021, nine non-motorist fatalities. The plan calls that unacceptable. And so do we. Thanks to the leadership and vision of Shawnee’s City Commission, the goal is officially zero traffic fatalities in Shawnee by 2036.
But getting there takes more than a plan on paper. It takes people. People walking the routes, people flagging the gaps, and people telling decision-makers what the data alone can't show. Through walk audits and community surveys, residents identified nearly 69 miles of missing sidewalks and mapped more than 200 safety concerns across the city that informed the Safe Streets for All Action Plan.